Between the Pussy Riot and Tannhäuser cases

We post a comment expert of the SOVA center Ksenia Sergazina, in the center of which is the recently adopted document of the Interreligious Council of Russia “On dangers of desecration of sacred symbols”, concerning in the first place productions of the opera "Tannhäuser" in Novosibirsk.

Events in Novosibirsk at a glance Metropolitan Tikhon (Emelyanov) are unfolding with such speed that soon 2013 and 2014 will go down in history like a period between the case "Pussy Riot" and Tannhäuser.

The situation around the production in Novosibirsk Opera and Ballet Theater of Wagner's "Tannhäuser" is escalating: we again we have a “significant business”, which begins entirely with the filing church authorities and is unequivocally condemned by the intelligentsia, including the church.

Secular, state, first act in this process as a neutral side, but then - covered by a wave church pressure - are included in the process - not on the side of the defense, alas, but on side of the prosecution . So it was in 2012, so it will be now, judging by at least the position taken by the Ministry of Culture - the direct superiors Novosibirsk director. March 13 at a meeting of the Department of State support of art and folk art in the framework of public discussion "Tannhäuser" director of the Novosibirsk theater scolded, as at a party meeting, reminding him that “the objectives of the state cultural policy are also strengthening civic identity and creating conditions for the education of citizens”, and this is impossible without Orthodoxy, which “played a special role in the formation system of values ​​of Russia” (see the transcript of the meeting).

The position of the ecclesiastical authorities turn, Patriarch Kirill, in this scandal is unclear, but it can be assumed that it is not contradicted by the statements of church speakers - members of the Council of Leaders of Traditional Religions of the Novosibirsk Region, who compared the production with the Charlie Hebdo cartoons, the destruction of Buddhist monuments in Afghanistan and insulting the victims of the Holocaust, and members of the Interreligious Council of Russia, which bridged the gap between "Tannhäuser" and "Pussy Riot" with its recent statement.

IN published on the official website of the Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church document "On the danger of desecration of sacred symbols” we are talking about the danger of creativity, excessive enthusiasm liberal ideas ("ultra-liberal ideas") and the loss of moral guidelines - in a word, about the excesses that lead to blasphemy. The document also names those who follow the "path of death": these are artists, journalists, directors, writers.

Draws attention first the turn of the rhetoric of the specified document, unobtrusively referring the reader, first, to the case "Pussy Riot" (contrasting creativity and blasphemy), and, secondly, to the wave cross-cutters that followed the prosecution of members of this group. Putting in one row the burning of churches and worship crosses, the desecration of relics and the appearance of the cross as a theatrical scenery, the authors of the document do not leave the public authority (to which they appeal) not the slightest opportunity to ignore the Novosibirsk scandal.

This rhetoric leads us on the beaten track well-known in the case of "Pussy Riot": contemporary art, turning to religious subjects, entering into the sacred space (in a church or in a theater) not only hurts the feelings of believers, but also poses a threat to public safety.

Hence the special message of the cited document: the text says much more about incitement to hatred and threats “civilian world” than about the feelings of believers.